>From: Robbie Taylor
> This is one that I've been thinking about for a while. How much do you
actually
> care about balance? Personally, I don't care at all. If you're willing to
kill
> characters off, then I guess you can say your game is balanced, but unless
you
> are, the game is always tilted in the player's favor. Since I like to have
fun
> and don't want to deal with pouty players who've just had their favorite
> character killed, I don't give a flip about making sure that they don't get
too
> big for their britches.
> Also, if they get powerful, I have no problem coming up with powerful things
to
> send against them. So, there's always some challenge; but who needs balance?
Balance isn't something I'd be terrible concerned with; but it's been my
experience that too often games are played in which the players need never
consider that they are not big/tough/powerful enough to handle what the gm
puts them up against. I've always had more fun in games where the risk of
my characters ever reaching retirement age was exceedingly small. We had to
try to find a variety of ways to avoid trouble rather than go toe to toe
with it, and actually completing a scenario meant something, it felt like an
accomplishment. If there's no real risk of death or dismemberment, what's
'the point in playing? Players need to know they're fighting the odds, not
working with them.
***********************************************
It is hard to master both life and work equally
well. So if you are bound to fake one of them,
it had better be life.
-Joseph Brodsky
************************************************
jjones@twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu
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